Viva la Resistance!

So at time of writing 5 episodes of Star Wars Resistance have aired (the first 2 episodes were available as a double-length episode: “The Recruit”) and having had a chance to watch these episodes and take everything in, I thought it was time to give my initial thoughts on the show so far.

For those who haven’t seen up to the end of “The High Tower” please be aware there may be some slight spoilers, though I will try not to go into too much detail about the plot.

I was a little nervous about the animation stylewhen I saw the traileras it was so different to The Clone Wars and Rebels, and while it did take me a bit of time to get used to, it did not take me out of the show and I was fine with it by the time “The Recruit” ended. The Colossus and the ships especially look wonderful and it has also been great that we have got such a diversity of species regularly appearing as extras, something that we did not always get in the previous shows.

While it does feel a little young at times (it was made for younger kids), it is again not enough to actually take away from the story, though there is still the odd moment like Neeku’s accidental electrocution and Kaz surviving a fall from a height completely unscathed that I wonder if it was completely necessary. That said, I have found myself enjoying most of the humour and I expect the show to get a little darker and more serious as it goes on in a similar way to the previous shows.

As to the characters and I have enjoyed the way that they are being slowly brought into the story. Kaz, Yeager and his crew were the clear focus of the first 4 episodes, with any extra characters generally used to help develop these main characters . The Aces were introduced early after Kaz’s arrival at Colossus, but have still been featured sparingly so far, so were are not overwhelmed with too many new characters straight away.

Kaz is somewhat infuriating at times as to how he is so immature and such a bad mechanic and spy, but it is not too overwhelming and a conversation with his father in the opening episode suggested that Kaz may not have had to do much for himself in the past. Unfortunately, so far this has had the same problem for me as Rebels did in that I find myself more interested in the supporting cast than the main character, but again it is not enough to put me off the show. I would really like to see Neeku start to develop soon though, I like his naivety, optimist and the way he takes things literally, but I feel that this is sometimes overused, such as in his interaction with the First Order in the most recent episode.

“Stormtroopers?”

“Maybe Aunt Z was right, maybe Doza really is in league with the First Order.”

Beyond that, though, I have been really taken in by the characters and look forward to seeing how they – and the story – progress through the first season. Bring on the next episode!

Moments in canon

Kaz is first shown piloting a T-85 X-wing for the New Republic. The Rebels flew the T-65 and the Resistance use a T-70. Poe was also shown flying a T-85 for the New Republic in the book Before the Awakening

Torra Doza has a picture in her room of Sabine Wren’s phoenix symbol

Torra also has a model of a T-16 skyhopper, similar to what Luke plays with in A New Hope when C-3PO is having an oil bath

Poe is not flying his black X-wing in “The Recruit” as it has been damaged, as shown in the comic book series Star Wars: Poe Dameron

Kaz’s New Republic flight suit in “The Recruit” includes the New Republic symbol, as seen in the Aftermath novels

Yeager was shown as having fought at the Battle of Jakku

Have you been watching Resistance? What are your thoughts so far? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading and May the Force be with you…